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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Featured Icon: Diana Rigg – Actress, “Emma Peel” of The Avengers

Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg DBE (born 20 July 1938) is an English actress. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.Rigg is particularly known for her role in the British 1960s television series “The Avengers”, where she played the secret agent Mrs. Emma Peel for 51 episodes between 1965 and 1968. Rigg tried out for the role of Emma Peel on a whim, without ever having seen the programme. Her career in film, television and the theatre has been wide-ranging, including roles in the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1959 and 1964. Her professional debut was in “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” in 1955, aged 17.Although she was hugely successful in the role of Emma Peel, she did not like the lack of privacy that television brought. She also did not like the way that she was treated by ABC Weekend TV. After a dozen episodes, she discovered that she was being paid less than a cameraman.